Tales from Equestria
by TheStoryWizard
Summary: A collection of Friendship is Magic short stories set in various parts of the timeline.


**Tales of Equestria **

**#1: Pen Pals**

**AN: Hey everyone. You may noticed I deleted my collection story along with the story "Regeneration". I have decided to update that story as it contradicts plans I have for MLP stories in the future. In the meantime, please enjoy this story and hopefully I'll have another one for you in the future. It seemed better for me to release these individually when they come to me than as an collection I'm unable to update regularly. **

Tirek groaned slightly as he left another notch on the cold stone wall; yet another tally marking the seemingly endless days he had spent caged in this gods forsaken prison. While it was true that he had already spent well over a thousand years locked away in Tartarus these past few years after his defeat at the hooves of Twilight Sparkle and her friends had been far worse than anything he could have possibly imagined. Perhaps being granted freedom from his shackles and devouring all of the magic from Equestria only to be squashed under the heel of six pathetic ponies who were children in comparison to his past foes was the reason for endless anguish.

Regardless, the time spent once again in captivity gave him time to plan his next move. Surely, Celestia and her allies would one day slip up once again or perhaps he could simply bide his time until they had all returned to the dust from whence they came. Eternity in a timeless prison had its benefits after all and Tirek had no qualms about exploiting that detail. Yes the thought of crushing the life from each of his foes while Equestria's heroes were too old and infirm to strike back was almost worth the exchange of facing several more eons of solitary torment. However, Tirek knew the only victory that would truly satisfy his carnal hunger for revenge would be one that was swift and catastrophic; he would find a way out and he would make his jailers pay for their part in his suffering. He would see to that all would bow before Tirek, broken in both body and spirit. Only then would they be allowed the sweet release of death for he would not make the same mistake his enemies had made in not ending his life when they had the chance.

As Tirek pondered his grand schemes, he soon found himself interrupted by hoofsteps outside his cage. Had Twilight and he friends arrived to return yet another escaped monster to its cage? Unlikely as the steps would have been swifter and more methodical. These steps seemed slow, sure and almost clumsy in nature with no hint of urgency or panic to them at all. Whoever was approaching his cage was clearly taking their time and didn't seem the least bit frightened by their surroundings. Had Celestia sent another therapist to question his intentions? Perhaps, but would their steps not be careful and professional? No, Tirek was certain that his visitor was sudden and unscheduled but what he was not expecting was the appearance of a young gray coasted pegasus with a blissful confused look on her crossed-eye face dressed in what was certainly the uniform of a postal service worker.

"Are you..." the pegasus began to ask as she slowly fished out a heart shaped letter covered in enough glitter and sequins to blind Tirek even from several yards away. "Lord...Tirek?"

"Umm...yes?" Tirek responded in utter disbelief. "What is the meaning of this? I am not used to such...trivial visits"

"Well, my name is Derpy and I work for the Equestrian Postal Service" the Pegasus responded putting enough slow emphasis on each word that were it not for the ditsy tone of her voice Tirek would have been certain she was questioning his intelligence. "That means I..."

"I know what it means!" Tirek shouted angrily.

"Then why did you ask?" Derpy responded even more confused. "If you know why I'm here why would you ask me why I'm here? That doesn't make any sense"

"That's not what I..." Tirek sighed as he couldn't help but facepalm. "What I meant to say was, why would anypony be sending _me _a letter. And how exactly did you manage to get in here in the first place?"

Derpy shrugged off Tirek's question as if it were a simple matter. "Well at first I didn't think anypony could get to Tartarus either. But it turns out Tartarus in just on the edge of our delivery zone, took me about weeks to find it, I had to ask The Doc for directions and then I still got lost because I had the map upside down and then..."

"ENOUGH!" Tirek growled with enough force to cause some of the other cages to shake in response though Derpy seemed unphased by this development. "Just give me my letter and begone!"

"Sure, no problem" Derpy said cheerfully handing Tirek the glittery note as she took a few steps and suddenly stopped. "Oh silly me, I forgot I had wings!".

Tirek sighed as he watched the delivery pony fly into the air only to crash into various rocks several times on her way out. Eventually when the sounds of his strange visitor's accident prone antics had finally retreated from earshot, Tirek examined the letter thoroughly before opening it only to be covered in an unfathomable amount of mismatched sequins and glitter. Rather than allowing his rising anger to get the best of him, Tirek instead decided to sate his curiosity and see what his new contact had to say.

_Dear Tirek,_

_When I learned that I could send letters to Tartarus I was oh so grateful because it meant I could make a very powerful new friend. _

Tirek almost gagged at the word but decided to continue reading. After all, how often does one receive correspondence in such a terrible place.

_Now I know what you're thinking "Why would a great and big and super powerful centaur like me want to be a friends with a cute little unicorn filly ? _

Tirek read every word with a deep contempt for pony kind. What reason would a school filly have for contacting him was this another trick from Celestia? Every passing moment made him want to choke the life from her royal highness even more and the mere thought of her attempting to reform him was almost too sickening to bear

_Well hear me out because I promise I can make it worth your while. After all, the one thing I've learned from Twilight's school is that Friendship is Power _

Tirek now began reading his contact's words more carefully. Friendship is Power; certainly those were not words that would come from an ally of Princess Celestia. And what was this? Twilight had started her own school to teach all of Equestria the same pathetic ways that had resulted in his defeat? Perhaps hearing what this child had to say might be worth a few minutes of his time after all.

_Oh, right. You don't know about Twilight's school do you? I bet I'm the only pony that's ever sent a little to poor lonely Tirek in Tartarus. Anyway, so Twilight started a Friendship School and I managed to get in just a few days ago without even passing a single test. Aren't you proud of me? Anyway I've got to wrap up this letter because I'm running out of ink but I think if I can find a way to get rid of Twilight and all her friends then maybe I can steal their power for myself. I know you know how to steal power so if could pretty please tell me everything you know, I'd be your bestest friend_

_Your bestest best friend forever,_

_Cozy Glow_

Cozy Glow? Tirek groaned profusely at how annoying cute the names of many of Equestria's citizens had become over the course of time. In his youth he heard names such as Starswirl the Bearded and Gusty the Great. Yet even with these vomit inducing names, Tirek had found himself defeated by mere children. Could it be that another child would be the means towards his revenge? Oh, what delicious irony! Now all that remained was locating a source of pen and parchment of his own and see what information he could share with his new pen pal. Perhaps if she was as intelligent as she seemed he might be able to get his revenge before ever taking one step out of Tartarus. And then oh what a glorious day his true escape would be!


End file.
